My roommates and I were having a conversation about prayer, and I was reminded of my nightly childhood prayer:
Dear God, thank you for this day. I pray that I won't have any nightmares, and that you will help us find a cure for aids and cancer. I love you a WHOLE bunch. Amen.
Oh the prayer of innocence.
It seems that as I have gotten older, a more common prayer that I have heard and can more often relate to goes a little more like this:
Dear God, thank you for another day. Please help me to not have dreams about men(/women), and protect me and my loved ones from aids and cancer. I am trying to love you. Please help me to love you more. Amen.
If only we could be like children again, more afraid of the boogie man than singleness, more aware of the needs of others than our own mortality, and more in love with our God than ourselves.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Saturday, March 01, 2008
do you ever feel like you are in the wrong place?
that is how i feel at this very moment.
there are a couple ways to address this problem:
1) self pity party. i don't suggest this. it doesn't get you anywhere, except more upset.
2) go somewhere else. this could be a good idea, but make sure you first know why you are currently in the wrong place. you don't want to drag the problem with you.
3) pray. i do believe this is the best option, but its tough. you are still in the wrong place and you usually feel like you aren't going anywhere. but the more you pray, the more you trust, and the more you let go, the more you can see Him preparing a great place for you.
there are a couple ways to address this problem:
1) self pity party. i don't suggest this. it doesn't get you anywhere, except more upset.
2) go somewhere else. this could be a good idea, but make sure you first know why you are currently in the wrong place. you don't want to drag the problem with you.
3) pray. i do believe this is the best option, but its tough. you are still in the wrong place and you usually feel like you aren't going anywhere. but the more you pray, the more you trust, and the more you let go, the more you can see Him preparing a great place for you.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Goodbye, 2007
I know, it's been a while since my last post. Sorry. But here I am, back to write a tribute for 2007.
Busyness is a key to my disappearance, but the real reason for my lack of activity is that these past few months have been tough. While struggling with the mess of my emotions, getting my thoughts together to write anything worth while was out of the question. But like I said, I'm back. I remember writing about the end of 2006 and the entry of 2007, and thought it would be appropriate to do the same for this new year. I hope this tribute to 2007 finds you well.
One year ago, on January 5, 2007, I wrote that I was incredibly excited for the year 2007. I expected it to be amazing. I was ready for my best year. If God had given me a glimpse into 2007, I probably would have never written such things.
All in all, this year was incredibly difficult. It was filled with conflict, most of which was internal. I therefore have nothing to show for it. No battle scar, no miraculous story, no beautiful piece of work that I labored over. To top it off, I am still in the meat of the conflict. And so there is no list of things I've learned, or how I have grown, no clear summary of the realizations I have come to through my thoughts. No epiphanies, no revelations, no enlightening. Nothing to show for my efforts. All I can show you is a girl humbled by her weaknesses. A girl who knows she has a long way to go.
So then, what do I say about 2007? While I didn't like it, it was a very necessary year. During this year, I have realized that I am that person that I don't want to be. At the risk of sounding immature, this year I clearly saw my ability to harm, to hurt, to not help. Doing none of these things intentionally, but instinctively, reactively, ignorantly. This year my weaknesses rang loud and clear, and my strengths seemed to disappear. And these realizations, these discoveries, whatever you want to call them, are necessary so that I may become the person that I want to be, and the person that God wants me to be.
So to 2007, I say goodbye. I will not miss you, but I will hopefully be grateful for you.
And what of 2008? I have hope for this next year, a hope that is more mature than the hope I had for 2007. A hope that is not so deterred by bad days and puffed up by good ones. This is a hope that trusts in God's grace and sovereignty.
Hopeful 2008!
Busyness is a key to my disappearance, but the real reason for my lack of activity is that these past few months have been tough. While struggling with the mess of my emotions, getting my thoughts together to write anything worth while was out of the question. But like I said, I'm back. I remember writing about the end of 2006 and the entry of 2007, and thought it would be appropriate to do the same for this new year. I hope this tribute to 2007 finds you well.
One year ago, on January 5, 2007, I wrote that I was incredibly excited for the year 2007. I expected it to be amazing. I was ready for my best year. If God had given me a glimpse into 2007, I probably would have never written such things.
All in all, this year was incredibly difficult. It was filled with conflict, most of which was internal. I therefore have nothing to show for it. No battle scar, no miraculous story, no beautiful piece of work that I labored over. To top it off, I am still in the meat of the conflict. And so there is no list of things I've learned, or how I have grown, no clear summary of the realizations I have come to through my thoughts. No epiphanies, no revelations, no enlightening. Nothing to show for my efforts. All I can show you is a girl humbled by her weaknesses. A girl who knows she has a long way to go.
So then, what do I say about 2007? While I didn't like it, it was a very necessary year. During this year, I have realized that I am that person that I don't want to be. At the risk of sounding immature, this year I clearly saw my ability to harm, to hurt, to not help. Doing none of these things intentionally, but instinctively, reactively, ignorantly. This year my weaknesses rang loud and clear, and my strengths seemed to disappear. And these realizations, these discoveries, whatever you want to call them, are necessary so that I may become the person that I want to be, and the person that God wants me to be.
So to 2007, I say goodbye. I will not miss you, but I will hopefully be grateful for you.
And what of 2008? I have hope for this next year, a hope that is more mature than the hope I had for 2007. A hope that is not so deterred by bad days and puffed up by good ones. This is a hope that trusts in God's grace and sovereignty.
Hopeful 2008!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)